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Ask The Expert

Telling the difference between a living coral and a dead coral isn't always that easy to tell, especially with LED lighting flooding the tank with that ever-popular blue hue. Saltwater reef tanks can be challenging, and SPS (small polyped stony coral) is considered the true test of hobbyist husbandry. Even if you purchase quality equipment, maintain excellent parameters, carefully select reef-safe fish to populate your biotope, corals can be finicky. They may not like their neighbors,
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Using carbon (GAC) will improve water clarity and pull out some pollutants in a reef tank. Active filtration will always exceed passive filtration. Rinse the media very well to remove all dust before installing a carbon reactor, and see the difference in your aquarium. Also, a reef update and a warning about the next video I upload.

If the tank was more than six months old when it crashed, you'll want to remove all the sand and rinse it well with a garden hose. This will remove trapped detritus and start fresh. Here's my blog about rinsing sand: http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...-the-new-setup

All the rock needs to be fully submerged in saltwater with circulation. You can put them in a trashcan with a big pump, or two. I used a big Mag pump. I'd suggest once a week filling up a second trashcan with new saltwater about half way. As you
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You set up your tank, buy some shiny new lights, plug them into timers and then wait... how long should they be on? What will match your routine? What about the health of your reef? Fish and corals in nature are very aware of the daily cycle, so much so that if you purchase a wrasse from another part of the earth, it will still be on that schedule. I've purchased wrasses in the past that stayed in the sandbed way longer than expected, emerging hours after the lights came on because their internal clock was still calibrated to the previous time zone. After a couple of weeks, it would reset so precisely
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I wanted to talk about LEDs for a few minutes. I've had the Radion Gen 2 over my anemone cube (60-gallon aquarium 24" x 24" x 24") for the past 12 months. As a light, it functions perfectly. Is it the best fixture ever? My feelings are a tad mixed, and I'll discuss why. The light itself provides sufficient lighting for anemones, SPS, LPS, gorgonians, zoanthids and even a T. maxima clam. All seem to do quite well and have all grown as one might expect.

The fixture is sleek, clean, and silent. It always turns on when it should, and turns off as expected. With the Reeflink hooked up, EcoSmart Live (ESL) offers some nice light-menus to select from and I chose what seemed my best preference. Originally it was called Progressive
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Someone posted in a saltwater group yesterday: "So I have a question that I hope will draw in some of the vets on here. .. what does it take to become a true reef pro? To really know the ins and outs to have a successful beautiful reef? I want to get there and want to know how."

This is a good question, and I wished more seasoned hobbyists would type up some extensive answers. Some replies are so brief you'd think you were reading tweets on Twitter. When I get an email asking me a question, they usually ask it in mere sentences. My answers are always paragraphs. There
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Scott Fellman writes: I was sort of pondering the state of the hobby in a recent philosophical moment, and I realized that we are at a sort of "crossroads" in the hobby and industry, with very real pressures on us from outside forces who know little of what we actually do.

As a group, marine aquarium hobbyists have a good sense of the responsibilities that come with acquiring and caring for aquatic animals, don't we?

We understand the impact of irresponsible collection, improper handling, and incompetent husbandry on the animals we love. We've worked very hard to elevate the state of the art, promote responsible stewardship of precious natural resources, and perpetuate the species that are under our care. Most importantly, we've worked hard to communicate responsible practices to others, both within - and
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